It's Called Christmas
by Imagination Is A Gift
Summary: Set 13 years after It's Called College. In their early thirties, Percy and Annabeth, Reyna and Jason bring the kids to the beach house to celebrate Christmas, but they're only left with six short days to prepare. Percabeth and Jeyna Christmas story, updates every day.
1. Introduction

**Introduction**

 _"Driving home for christmas_  
 _With a thousand memories"_

 _-Chris Rea (Driving Home for Christmas)_

"Hylla, I told you," Reyna exclaimed, her phone pressed to her ear as she ran around her bedroom, gathering items that belonged in her purse but had somehow gotten scattered all over her room. "We're not having you over for Christmas because we're not here for Christmas!"

"Well change your plans," Hylla said on the other end of the line. "I'm your sister, Rey! You need to have me over for Christmas. It's a time for family and these people aren't your family!"

"Hylla," Reyna scolded. "I'm kind of busy. Look, you came over for Thanksgiving and you'll be over for Easter. But for just this once, we're having a small Christmas at somebody else's home."

She could almost hear Hylla rolling her eyes over the phone. "Fine. Merry Christmas then."

"You too," Reyna said, straightening up for a minute. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she heard Hylla say before hanging up.

Reyna looked around the bedroom and sighed. The double bed was messy and clothes hung off furniture and lay crumpled on the floor. Reyna finished packing her handbag, one of life's necessities – however much she hated them, when she realised she was still in pyjama's. Flannel pants, tank top, and dark brown hair in a messy bun, the usual.

The door opened and her better half walked in. "Black, two sugars," he said, handing her a large mug of coffee. "Bitter but still satisfying your secret sweet tooth."

"Thank you," she said, taking the coffee.

The couple had been married for eight years at that point, so they knew what each other liked. At the end of the war, the battle against Gaia won, Jason had kissed goodbye to Piper. He had been in love with her, but he simply wasn't ready to leave his home in New Rome. And Piper, having settled at Camp Half-Blood was not ready to move across the USA to be with him.

Jason and Reyna had saved their friendship when they went of to the college of New Rome for a couple of four year courses. It took the first year for Jason to get over Piper. The second year for them both to develop feelings for each other all over again. And it wasn't to replace Piper or anything, it was something entirely new. In the third year, they fell in love. And after the fourth year, when they left college, they were engaged a year later.

Now, eight years later, they were a perfectly happy couple. They had moved out of New Rome, but weren't too far. When Reyna fell pregnant, in their third year of marriage, the couple sat down and discussed options for their future. Their favourite was leaving camp so their daughter could get a normal education with other children. She would be sent off to camp to train when she was older. And it would most likely be Camp Half-Blood. They wanted to see their little girl all year round, and they couldn't if she was permanently at Camp Jupiter. Of course, they could move back there, but she would miss out on a teenage education. So instead, they would probably move closer to New York.

"What time is it?" Reyna asked.

Jason checked his watch. Their alarm clock had long since broken, so they kind of relied on Jason's watch. Or their phones, which weren't on yet. "Literally, one minute until 7am," he said. "Lydia's going to be a night mare to wake up."

Reyna nodded. "If you do it, I'll make breakfast," she said, finishing the boiling hot coffee before putting it on the night stand and heading into the bathroom.

Jason stayed outside and looked at himself in the mirror. "Okay, but can you pick her up from Pre-Kindergarten?"

"If you drop her off," Reyna said.

Jason wore a light blue shirt tucked into grey work pants. He neatened his blonde hair as he called to Reyna: "Deal." He went into the bedroom opposite theirs and woke their daughter, Lydia, up.

"Is it a school day?" she complained as she sat up. She was only four and she already hated school. She rubbed her tired eyes and looked around her bedroom, which of course, was bright pink.

"It is, sweetie," Jason said, lifting her out of bed and looking to find some clothes for her. Over the few years he had kind of figured out what he should dress his child in, although at first, Reyna changed every outfit he tried because it looked stupid. "But guess what?" he asked, changing her into a tiny pair of jeans and a purple jacket. "It is your last day before the Christmas holidays! Isn't that exciting?"

"Is Santa going to get me everything I asked for?" she asked with a slight lisp.

Jason paused. "He's sure going to try!" He left Lydia to her own devices for a while as he went back into his own room.

Reyna was leaning against the door frame to the bathroom, fully dressed in dark jeans and a reddish pink blouse. She had grown to wearing heels which Jason loved. Her hair was in a neater, more mature bun than the messy morning one. She looked like she had very mixed emotions. "We need to talk," she said.

"Okay, shoot," he said as he scrambled around for one of his folders.

There was a pause. "Jason," she said, sternly. He turned to face her, wondering what the hell was up. She was looking very serious which made Jason very afraid. "We need to _talk_."

Finally he recognised that facial expression, the one she had only had once before and it took all of his willpower not to burst into laughter, to beam from ear to ear and dance around the room.

"Wait," he said. "Is that... a yes."

Reyna paused before breaking into a smile. "Yes!" she said, instantly knowing what he was talking about. "Yeah! It worked!"

The couple ran into each others arms and Jason picked her up and spun her around before kissing her in rejoice.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Percy's hand stretched out from the warm comfort of his bed and slammed against the top of his alarm clock. He yawned, rolling over to face the ceiling and sighed. How many times had he pressed snooze on his alarm clock? It felt like a lot of times but it also felt like no time had passed. His hand stretched out, looking for Annabeth but she was nowhere to be found. Ugh. She would have left for work already.

He didn't even open his eyes until he heard his bedroom door creek open and something pouncing onto his bed. "Daddy, Daddy," he son said, beginning to jump on the mattress. "Daddy do I have to go to school today?"

Percy turned over and looked at his five-year-old son who seemed to have nothing better to do than bother him. "I don't know. What day is it?"

"It's Thursday," he said.

Percy paused. "Damn it!" He leapt out of bed and checked the clock. 08:11am. Great, his son had to leave for school in ten minutes. "Luke, go and get dressed," Percy ordered. He ran with his son into the other bedroom in their apartment in Manhattan. They were looking for somewhere bigger, but that was home at the moment. He rushed Luke into a tiny pair of jeans and a t-shirt before helping him into a tiny pair of shoes. He hurried him into the kitchen and poured him a bowl of chocolate cereal.

"Daddy why do you get to stay in pyjama's?" Luke asked.

Percy shrugged, looking down at his blue pyjama pants and grey t-shirt. "Because I'm a grown-up and we have certain privileges." He reached into the cupboard for his ADHD medication and washed it down with coffee, a combination that was probably dangerous under certain circumstances.

"What's a privilege?" Luke asked.

Percy was spared from answering by a sudden wail in the other room. "I'll tell you when you're older," he said before running into the third and last bedroom of the apartment that had been done up into a nursery for his baby daughter, Emma.

He picked up his baby girl and carried her over to the kitchen before opening up some baby food and dumping her in the high chair. He fed her as quickly as she would eat before moving back to his son. He took the bowl of cereal from him and flung him under his arm, taking him to the door, where his coat and lunch box were hanging, already fixed out thanks to his wife. "Put your coat on," he ordered.

"Daddy I don't want-"

"Now," Percy said. Luke sighed before shrugging his padded blue coat on over his clothes. He held onto Emma as he hurried Luke downstairs to the car. He still wore pyjama's and no shoes as he strapped his kids in. His outfit was a mistake. Turns out, it had snowed over night, so Percy found himself hopping out to the car, his feet turning blue.

Almost as soon as the engine started, his phone rang. He hooked it up the the car's speakers and answered it. "Hey, Honey," he cooed.

"Did you just wake up?" Annabeth asked from the other end of the line. She sounded busy already. She ran an architectural company in New York, which was pretty amazing. She was the youngest person ever to run the place, and nobody there expected so much skill from a young, pretty blonde girl.

"No," Percy snorted. "I've been up for hours. Taking Luke to Pre-Kindergarten now. Isn't that right, Lukey?"

"We're in the car, Mommy," Luke yelled into the phone from the back seat.

"Lukey, baby," Annabeth said from the phone. "How much time did you have to get ready this morning?"

"Daddy was very fast," Luke said. "He got us ready in this many minutes."

"How many fingers are you holding up?"

"Five."

Percy's face fell into his hands. "Yeah, okay, I woke up late," Percy said. "But I'm ADHD and have a lot of caffeine in me, so we're on top of everything."

"Percy I gave you one job," Annabeth exclaimed, exasperated as Percy started driving. "Get the kids up, feed them, dress them, and get Luke to Pre-Kindergarten on time. Is that so hard?"

"Well technically that's like, four jobs," he shrugged.

"Seriously?" she asked. "You're going to question my maths? It is one job, Percy. It's called parenting! You know I have to be at work early in the morning-"

"I know," Percy said, driving through the streets of New York. "Trust me, I'm on top of it. Have you packed for the vacation yet?"

"You haven't?!" Annabeth exclaimed.

Percy silently cursed himself. "I've started, I just need to finish," he lied, thinking about his empty suitcase at home. "Um... Have you packed for Luke and Emma or was I supposed to do that?"

Annabeth just sighed. "Luckily I did that already. You really need to get it together, Percy. You're 31 and have two children."

He rolled his eyes. "I know, I know. My phone's almost out of charge, so have a good day at work, and I'll see you later."

Just as he said that his phone died. He pulled up outside Luke's Pre-Kindergarten and sent him inside. No way was he leaving that car without shoes unless it was to run inside and put them in hot water. "Looks like it's just you and me for the entire day," he said to his daughter, Emma. "What do you want to do?"

She made a strange mushy sound.

"Hm, I want to do that too," he nodded as he began driving home. She was almost a year old and he was still bloody carrying her everywhere. Little girl needed to learn how to walk. When they pulled up outside of the apartment building, he unbuckled her from her baby booster seat and held her tight. "You ready for this baby girl?" he asked. He opened the door and jumped out, slamming it shut again. He ran inside, his feet turning into ice cubes in the snow. He locked the car via the button on the keys and jumped into the elevator to get upstairs.

"You really underestimate how brave your Daddy is," he sighed, looking down at his daughter. She reached up and tried to grab his nose. He let her, shaking his head. It was super hard making conversation with a child who only knew how to say a few words, one of which was a strange gooey sound that was vaguely similar to the word 'bubble'. She definitely got her Daddy's intelligence.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Annabeth rushed around her office, ordering people about and drinking more cups of coffee than she could count. That didn't exactly help with her ADHD, but she was about ready to curl up and take a nap on the office floor in front of all her employees. She had one of those miniature phones clipped to her ear as she talked to Percy. "They ready to go?" she asked.

Percy sounded rushed and busy on the other end of the line. "Yup."

Annabeth paused, suspicious. "Are they actually ready to go or are you getting them ready to go?"

Percy huffed. "They're ready to go, Annabeth! I mean, I'm almost ready to go, but we won't be leaving for another hour or so."

"Actually, we'll be leaving in about fifteen minutes," Annabeth corrected. "I'm leaving work now. I'll be back in about ten minutes and then I'm just going to get changed before we go. Pack the car, Percy."

"On it," he said. "We're meeting Jason and Reyna there right?"

Annabeth nodded, packing some folders into her bag before realising Percy couldn't see her nod. "Yes we are," she said, taking the folder back out. She had changed her mind, she didn't want to work on their Christmas Vacation. "Oh, and we need to check in with your mother before we leave New York."

"Why?" Percy asked.

"Because," Annabeth said, wondering is some days she liked Sally more than Percy did. "We need to exchange gifts, give holiday greetings and let her play with Luke and Emma for a bit."

"Fine," Percy huffed. "As long as we get there before Reyna and Jason."

"Why?" Annabeth asked, leaving her private office and walking through corridors of employees, a lot of whom hated her. Percy didn't reply. "Percy, _why_?"

"It's a race," he said.

"No it's-" she cut herself off, having neither the time not patience to argue with her husband about this. "You and Jason and your competitiveness will be the death of me."

Annabeth hung up on him and left the building, running to the parking lot and jumping into her car. She kicked off her heeled shoes to drive safely and took to the roads, getting home as quickly as she could. She ran into the apartment and into the bedroom to change into jeans, a shirt and a cardigan, her feet sinking into sneakers. She shook her hair out of a very complex bun that it had been in for work. She ruffled her curly blonde hair and looked in the mirror.

Not much had changed about her appearance since she left Camp Half-Blood. She looked older of course, at the ripe old age of 31, not to mention the fact that bearing two children had aged her. She wore very little make up when she did at all, and that was pretty much just for work.

She grabbed her hand bag and ran out of the bedroom, kissing Percy as they hurried Luke outside, wrapping him up in a coat and hat first. "Hey baby girl," Annabeth cooed as she picked up the baby car seat with her daughter, Emma in. The family went outside and started packing themselves into the car. Percy strapped the kids in as Annabeth counted the suitcases in the trunk, making sure Percy had packed every one.

"Did I pass inspection, Wifey?" Percy asked sarcastically.

Annabeth sighed, slamming the trunk shut. "Should I drive or will you?"

"I'll drive," he said as she yawned. "You're way too tired.

The visit to Sally was quite short actually. She had just made cookies and she insisted on filling Luke with them. Percy's son was all too happy to oblige and ate almost every one, despite the fact that Percy tried to stop him.

Sally made a fuss over how Percy needed a new haircut and he asked her not to treat him like a child in front of his own children. She refused on the grounds that 'Mother knows best' and that he needed a new haircut.

Annabeth agreed with Sally and the two of them had a lovely time pointing out all of Percy's flaws and telling him everything he should edit about himself. Annabeth ended that argument by kissing him on the cheek and telling him he was perfect to her, which made him blush.

She fed Emma, who was teething, some left over cookie dough and Percy rolled his eyes as he had a brief discussion with Paul about taxes a bills and boring adult stuff. Percy missed being a kid sometimes.

They exchanged gifts and Sally made Percy promise not to open them until Christmas. Percy handed hers and Paul's over and told them which was was for who. They left when Percy saw Annabeth beginning to fall asleep on his Mom's couch. "Long day at work," he mouthed to his parents. He got his family back out to their car after saying goodbye to his parents and wishing them a Merry Christmas.

It took them another 2 and a half hours or so to reach Long Island. Percy knew his way to the beach, and that little beach house his mother had bought. It was almost hard to get there through all the snow, about three feet of it, that had surrounded the place. The top of the beach was covered in a flat blanket of snow, not a footprint to be seen. The lower beach however had little to no snow as the tide had washed a lot of it away.

The family rushed inside and Annabeth started a fire. Percy saw smoke coming out of the chimney as he shovelled snow outside. They had gotten there before Jason and Reyna, so Percy left their suitcases in his preferred bedroom. Luke insisted on going outside to the beach and ruining the clear patch of snow, but Annabeth told him that Lydia, Reyna and Jason's daughter, would want to do that with him and he agreed to wait.

The beach house had one story, and two of the three bedrooms were at one end of the single floor. The fire place was between the two doors and there were a couple of armchairs in front of that on a square rug. There was a door on the wall next to the right bedroom that lead into a small living room with two couches in. On the other side of the house was a tiny kitchen space next to the third bedroom. There were two very miniature bathrooms in the house, one of which had a shower.

Percy helped Luke unpack in the smallest of the bedrooms, one with only one single bed that he would have to share with Lydia. They were both still tiny, so it would work, and they had done it before when they were forced to share.

-0-0-0-0-0-

It was a short drive to the airport. Reyna drove and Jason spoke to Lydia in the back seat. "Aren't you excited to see Luke and Emma again?" he asked. His beautiful daughter nodded. She had gotten Reyna's dark hair and Jason's sky blue eyes. Reyna had plaited her hair that morning in two long plaits and her thick bangs fell to her eyes. She had adorable chubby cheeks and dimples when she smiled. She was perfect.

"Is Santa going to be able to find us in New York?" she asked.

Jason nodded reassuringly. "He has special trackers for that. Have you already told Santa what you wanted for Christmas?"

Lydia nodded. "I want a new pink dress and there are two make up phones that I want. Plus, a _Bratz_ make-over like Jasmine." Jason gawked at her for a minute in shock before sharing and concerned look with Reyna. "I'm just joking, Daddy," Lydia laughed. "I told Santa I wanted a new helmet and maybe a new knife that's actually pointy."

Jason sighed a little in relief. He and Reyna had taught their daughter from a young age, but of course they never let her handle real weapons. She was only four and they weren't idiots. Jason wouldn't let her get her hands on a real dagger, not even for Christmas. Not until she was much older. A new helmet would be easy, though.

They arrived at the airport and jumped out of the car. Reyna lead Lydia inside and Jason dragged the suitcases behind him. It didn't take them massively long to get through customs. They had to wait for quite a while before they could get on the plane. Reyna sat with Lydia on her lap until finally they got onto the plane. There was a slight problem where Jason couldn't find the boarding passes, but it didn't take them long to find them again.

They settled down on the plane and listened to the lady talk about safety precautions. "Like this plane's going to crash," Jason huffed. "Jupiter's not giving up his favourite son any day now."

"I thought Hercules was his favourite?" Reyna sneered, trying not to laugh.

"That was in 146 BC," he said. "It's now 2025. You need to get with the times, okay?"

Reyna actually laughed that time. Lydia looked up over the planes seat to the other passengers. "My Grandpa is the God of the sky, so we're all going to be okay." Reyna pulled her back into her seat and called one of the flight attendants over to help her strap Lydia back in.

"Something we tell her," Jason explained to the rest of the plane, "to help her feel better about flying." The passengers just thought she was cute so they didn't think anything of it.

The flight was exactly five hours and forty three minutes. Reyna counted. Their bags took longer to land so they waited around for hours as Reyna paced and ranted about dysfunctional airports. Finally their bags came through and They dragged them out of the airport, Lydia holding her Dad's hand as she bounced along. They called for a cab and piled their stuff in.

The driver complained a lot about the drive all the way up to Long Island, but Reyna tipped him pretty well. Annabeth came running out of the beach house as soon as the car pulled up, Luke by her side. Reyna and Annabeth wrapped their arms around each other and Luke ran at Jason, giving him a big hug before poking Lydia and saying 'you're it'. Lydia instantly ran off to chase him and Jason moved on to hug Annabeth as Percy came running out and getting their bags.

"Merry Christmas!" he exclaimed.

Inside they had already got a fire going, which Reyna was more that happy to curl up in front of. "I suppose you called dibs on the bedroom with the double bed already?" Jason asked Percy.

There were three bedrooms in the beach house, all pretty small. One had a double bed, one had two single beds, and one only had one single bed – that was the one they always gave to the kids, as they were smaller and required less space. "First come, first serve."

"We would have gotten here first if the bloody airport didn't lose our bags," Jason sighed. "Okay, well what do we do now?"

"Well," Annabeth said. "Christmas is in a week, so we have six days to deck the halls and fralalalala. We need to get this place Christmas-ready."

* * *

 **A/N: Hey everyone! This story is set in 2025 and all of the characters are about thirty. It's set in the future from my Percabeth/Jeyna college story, It's Called College. You may be readers of that story, or you may be someone new, but it's set in the same world. I consulted a lot of people via tumblr or IRL about the names of their kids but sorry if you don't like.**

 **This story will be updated every day until Christmas, blah blah, I said all of this in It's Called College. I'm actually a little behind than where I would like to be with this story so it's all binge-writing for the next few days.**

 **Reviews make my day so please leave one before you go! Merry Christmas! -Izzy**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

 _"_ _And I remember thinking that Christmas_  
 _Must have been made for us"_

The first thing Reyna acknowledged when she woke up was how nauseous she felt. She took a few deep breaths to make her feel better before going to the kitchen to get something to drink.

"Morning," Percy grumbled, groggily sipping on a hot cup of coffee. "The coffee in the maker is still fresh and hot." Reyna nodded but walked over to the sink and poured herself a glass of water instead. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she sighed. "I'm just going to keep it light today, though."

The beach house was rather cold so early in the morning, before any fires had been lit. Percy and Reyna stood wrapped up in the tiny kitchen in the early hours. They heard the kids in their bedroom bouncing around already and making screaming noises at whatever game they were playing.

"You mind?" Percy said to Reyna. Reyna shrugged and nodded to the bedroom door. He needed to tell them to quit jumping on the bed, but he didn't want to tell somebody else's child not to do something without having asked them first. He poked his head through the door. "Cut it out, you two," he said. "You'll break the beds, and I'm not giving up mine for you two. You'll have to sleep on the couch."

"Lydia has girl-germs," Luke commented.

"Better girl-germs than boy-germs," Lydia said, poking her tongue out at Luke.

"Nobody has germs," Percy said. "Now stop jumping on the bed." He closed the bedroom door and the noise greatly decreased. He turned back to Reyna and grinned. "They'll stop with all the the sexist germ-shaming in a few years."

Reyna laughed. "They're pretty good friends, though," she commented. "I'm just glad she'll have Luke looking out for her when they're older."

"Same on this side," Percy said. "They may bicker, but I'm pretty relieved that he has a friend like Lydia."

Reyna nodded, agreeing. "Do you want to go out today?" she asked. "We have a lot of stuff to get done before Christmas Day, so we might as well tackle one of those jobs together. Besides, I do not feel like being stuck inside all day."

Percy grinned at her. The two of them had developed a pretty steady friendship in college, with Jason and Annabeth studying their asses off and everything. Percy grabbed a checklist off of the fridge and read the first thing on it. "Christmas Tree," he said. "How do you like the smell of pine?"

Annabeth and Jason were still asleep, so Percy and Reyna headed out to the car, after leaving them a note.

 _Out to get a Christmas Tree. Back in a few hours. -Percy_

 _ **PS. Don't worry, I'll make sure he gets a good one. -Reyna**_

They asked the kids if either of them wanted to come and Lydia refused on the grounds that she wanted to go back to sleep. Luke hopped out to the car with them though and strapped himself into the back seat. Percy and Annabeth had a mini van, which Percy drove into the city.

Most people had bought their Christmas Trees by that point, but their group hadn't even started preparing for Christmas, other than buying presents for each other. They had made their way to the beach house as early as they could, which was pretty late due to work hours. Anyway, the Christmas Tree garden was almost entirely empty of people, with not a massive amount of trees left.

"Can we have that one?" Luke called out, pointing as a huge, tall tree.

Percy shook his head. "No, kid, it's got to fit into the beach house," he said, ruffling his son's hair. Kids looked adorable when they were all wrapped up for the winter in big coats and scarves and mittens.

"If you get the tree than you have to buy me a Twik on the way back," Luke declared, crossing his tiny arms in determination.

"You mean a 'Twix'," Percy corrected, remembering his five year old son's favourite chocolate bar.

"No, I only want one," Luke said.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine. But your opinion is very important, so help me find a lovely green tree that can fit in the house."

Percy remembered the day his son was born, when Percy and Annabeth were 26. He remembered Grover pacing nervously around the waiting room; Jason holding Reyna's hand in the seats. Piper, Leo and Calypso all running through the hallways; Sally, Paul, Dr and Mrs Chase, Poseidon and Athena all showing up and claiming to be the parents. He remembered Thalia and Tyson running in with Ella; Rachel taking a plane in all the way from her fathers home; Frank, Hazel and Nico flying in from New Rome.

There had been such a crowd, but all of them were desperate to be by Annabeth's side, all had been her best friend in some way or another. Percy had to leave Annabeth's side to get them all to leave, as they were causing commotions all over the hospital. When Luke was born, Annabeth instantly chose to name him after her former friend, the saviour of Olympus.

Percy knelt down next to his son and pointed to a tree over his shoulder. "What about that one?" he suggested. "It's big enough, but not too big-"

"It's not green enough," Luke declared.

The tree quite honestly, seemed as green as all of the others, but Percy chose to ignore that and listen to his son's advice. "True," he shrugged. "Okay, let's keep looking. Find on you like and we'll talk about getting it."

Luke ran off to the aisles of trees and Percy watched him go to inspect every one of them to make sure they were the right amount of green. He looked a little like Percy. Well, a lot like Percy, when Percy was five. He had his black hair, but wavier. He was paler than Percy as well and had his mother's grey eyes.

"He is so adorable," Reyna commented from his side, watching Luke frown in distaste and crinkle his nose at one of the tree's.

"Well, like father like son," Percy sniggered.

 _ **Flashback – October 1st, 2012**_

" _Rey, you're being ridiculous," Percy complained, pulling her along with him through the college campus. She groaned and sighed loudly but allowed herself to be pulled along by Percy. "You've been at college for an entire month and you haven't been to one party yet."_

" _That's not ridiculous," she said. "That's being opinionated and having a hobby preference. Parties just aren't my thing! Why are you trying to change my thing?!"_

" _Because you're in college," he said. "You're young, this is the time of your life and you need to spend this time living instead of staying in bed and reading Tolstoy with Cup-a-Soup. Because one day, you're_ actually _going to be seventy and you're going to be depressed about the fact that nothing changed over the course of your entire life as you reach Chapter 2 of Tolstoy for the billionth time and make your nurse get you more soup."_

" _I like soup," Reyna said. "I don't like parties."_

" _But you get what I mean?" he said. "You can't do the same thing your entire life. One day you're going to be doing your taxes and you're going to_ wish _you were at a college party getting drunk and dancing."_

" _You need to stop telling me my future," she said. "How many parties have you dragged Annabeth to?"_

" _Three," he said. "I tried for two more, but she judo-flipped me. I guess that's becoming our thing."_

" _Ugh," Reyna groaned. "Fine. Fine, okay. But only if it'll get you to shut up on the matter. And I'm going to hate the entire night."_

" _Don't hate it until you try it," Percy said._

 _He dragged her along to the party, where their were already college kids passed out drunk. They were sprawled over couches, bottles sticking out of their mouths. There was booming dubstep music that a lot of kids were somewhat dancing to, all with red cups in their hands. There were a couple keggers around the room, one of which had people doing handstands on so they could drink upside down. There were at least four chugging contests going on around the room and at lease two couples doing unspeakable things in the corners where they didn't think anybody could see. Reyna walked in after Percy, her nose wrinkled at the smell._

 _The room was so crowded that they were being bashed around every step they took and everybody seemed to dance by flinging their entire body to one side, banging into Reyna. They walked passed one boy who was passed out of the counter with his tongue lolling out and 'I SUCK DICKS' written on his forehead in marker pen._

" _At lease he's owning it," Reyna sighed, reading his head and turning to Percy. "Can we go? Please?"_

 _Percy rolled his eyes. "Have a drink or two," he said. "You'll loosen up and find this place the classiest party on Earth when you're drunk."_

 _It took a while, but he finally got some alcohol in Reyna. After the first drink, she stopped complaining about the smell and the people bumping into her. After the second drink she stopped taking orders from Percy and drank by herself. After the third drink she found herself on the dance floor._

 _As it turns out, tipsy Reyna was actually Percy's best friend, much to everyone's surprise. After the first couple beers she started drinking without him telling her to. She lost the stuck up, professional exterior and allowed herself to loosen up. There was something addictive about turning an opinionated, steady leader, into a party animal, Percy thought as he watched Reyna drink upside-down from a kegger, impressing the crowd. She probably just did it to impress, but it worked._

" _Rey," Percy called over to her. She bounced over to him, a smile on her face for once, the first time Percy had ever seen such a thing._

" _What's up?" she asked as a less violent, less electronic song came on through the speakers._

" _Dance with me?" Percy suggested. Reyna shrugged and let Percy lead her onto the dance floor again. It was in no way a slow dance, and it was purely platonic. "Who knew you were such fun?"_

 _She sniggered. "Never let me have beer again," she said._

" _Seriously," Percy sighed. "I was hoping to get you to loosen up and relax, but I didn't think I would have you drinking upside-down from keggers. You're Reyna Arellano, since when did you party?"_

 _She just shrugged. "I've been in control all my life," she said. "And I love it, being in charge, working. There was something my sister once said about our family thriving under pressure."_

" _What happened to that?" he asked._

" _You got me drunk," she answered, laughing. "Maybe it's the fact that I just want to be able to let go, one time in my life. Maybe it's the fact that you're right – if I ever was going to let go and be less up-tight, it would be now. Maybe it's because I have a paper due in tomorrow and I'm going to have only 1 hour to write a 5,000 word essay, while drunk and the thought of that amount of pressure is exhilarating."_

 _Percy laughed. "I'm never going to understand you."_

" _Nobody ever does," she shrugged._

-0-0-0-0-0-

"What about this one?" Reyna suggested, fiddling with a branch on one of the trees through her thick red gloves. "It's about the right size for the living room, don't you think?"

Percy cocked his head at it for a second. "It's not green enough," he said before his face fell. Huh. Maybe he was more like his son than he previously assumed.

"Yes it is," Reyna said, defensively. "It's just the same amount of green as every other tree here."

"No it isn't," Percy said. "The others are much more green. This one looks like it's going to die tomorrow."

Reyna narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, excepting his challenge. "Which one is green enough then? Forget height and build, basing our opinions purely on green-ness, which one is the best?"

Percy looked around, trying to find the greenest tree before pointing one out. "That one. That one is very green."

Reyna walked over to the very green tree and picked it up, carrying with ease back to the 'not green enough' tree, completely ignoring how heavy it must had been. She put the two tree next to each other and turned to Percy, smugly. "See? They're exactly the same."

Percy paused, intensely staring at the two trees, which both, unfortunately, seemed to be the same shade of green, proving him wrong. "Yeah well..." he paused. "Okay, so you _might_ be right. _Maybe_..."

"I know I'm right," she said. "So should we get it?"

Percy paused again before sighing. "Yeah okay. Do you want to carry it over or should I?"

Reyna was about to answer when she paused. Her hand twitched and she went pale. "You should probably consult Luke first," she said. "See what he thinks about the tree."

Percy nodded, looking worriedly at Reyna. He remembered how she felt sick that morning, how she didn't eat and he wondered whether something was wrong. "Yeah, okay," he said. He called out for Luke, who was playing among the trees, and watched his son came running over. "What do you think about this tree here?" he asked, kneeling down and putting an arm around him.

Luke paused before nodded, confidently. "It's green enough," he declared, beginning to smile as he fiddled with his jacket.

"Apparently so," Percy muttered, rolling his eyes. He turned back to Reyna but she was facing away. He saw one of her hands in her hair and one seemed to be rubbing her stomach or soothing her stomach or something. "Go and continue playing," he whispered to his son before getting to his feet and walking over to her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, turning to him and dropping her hands and turning to face him. She seemed to be forcing a smile which Percy didn't buy at all.

"Reyna, what's wrong?" he asked. "You can tell me! Did you eat something funny or..."

"No," she said. "I'm okay, Percy, really. Just let it go, okay?"

"Reyna-"

"Percy, I said I'm fine," she snapped. She paused before sighing. "Sorry, I just... I'm okay, really."

Percy paused, before nodding. "Okay," he said, not believing her but deciding it wasn't his place. "I just care about you, okay? I love you, you're my best friend. Promise me you'll come to me if something's wrong?"

She smiled, genuine this time and nodded. "Okay."

Percy kissed her cheek before walking back over to their tree to pick it up, carrying it over to the workers who helped him run it through that plastic thing that tied all the branches down. Reyna waited in the entrance to the shop as she watched him carry it out to his car. She was in the process of buying some rope the shop sold to tie it on the roof as they drove back to the beach house.

"Are you still ouchy?" asked a voice near her elbow.

Reyna looked down to Luke and smiled. "I wasn't ouchy."

"Yes you was," Luke insisted, speaking with a slight lisp. "I saw you. I get ouchies too, and Mommy tells me that even the strongest warriors get ouchies."

Reyna rolled her eyes. "I'm not weak, Lukey. And I've not got an ouchy, I promise."

He paused. "Do you want me to hold your hand?"

"What?"

"Whenever I fall over and hurt my knee, Mommy or Daddy will carry me over and wrap it all up," he told her. "But I can't pick you up because you're a grown up and grown-ups are heavy. But I can hold your hand to the car!"

Reyna just beamed at him. The cashier made an 'aw' sound and asked if she could keep Luke. Reyna shook her head and paid for the rope before holding her hand out for Luke to hold.

* * *

 **A/N: Hi! I love Preyna as a BROTP so I had a lot of fun writing them. Please let me know what you think before going! Next chapter is... Percabeth? I think. Merry Christmas! -Izzy**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two  
**

 _"_ _I wish I could be dancing now_  
 _in the arms of the girl I love"_

 _-Jona Lewie (Stop the Cavalry)  
_

"Did you just wake up?" Annabeth asked, feigning a stern expression and putting her hands on her hips. She looked down at Lydia, who stood in the doorway to the kids' room, still in her pyjama's and her teddy bear still in hand. Lydia looked up at Annabeth and giggled.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and picked the little girl up, sitting her on a chair in the kitchen as she started searching around for the Cocoa Puffs Percy had bought with them. "I was sleeping," Lydia giggled as Annabeth began to pour her a bowl of cereal.

"What did you dream about?" she asked, smiling at her best friends' daughter. It was only eight o'clock, so it wasn't exactly late, but everybody else in the house had woken up rather early due to so many people in the house, the Christmas spirit and one of Emma's tantrums, the whole house had woken up hours earlier.

"I dreamt about Harry Potter," Lydia told Annabeth, who handed her a small breakfast and left her to her own devices, watching over her to make sure she didn't spill cereal all over the kitchen.

"Was it a good dream?" Annabeth asked.

Lydia shook her head. "Hagrid burned Ron's pants on fire and cooked Harry," Lydia said sadly, as if the memory was tragic. Annabeth knitted her eyebrows together and cocked her head. Sometimes kids had the weirdest dreams.

"Is that so?" Annabeth mused. "Mommy and Daddy are outside in the snow. If you want to join them after breakfast, I'll have to get you dressed first."

"Where's Lukey?" Lydia asked.

Annabeth looked out the window to where her son and Reyna were ganging up on Jason with snowballs. "He's out there too," she said. "And baby Emma's asleep."

Lydia looked angry. "If Emma is allowed to sleep forever, why can't I?" she demanded.

Annabeth smiled at Lydia. "Because you're getting big now sweetheart," she said. "You have to start behaving like a big girl. One day, Emma will have to do the same." She sat with Lydia as she finished her breakfast and took her back into the kids bedroom to get dressed. She wrapped her up in a coat, hat, scarf and gloves before sending her outside to play with Jason, Reyna and Luke.

"We better get started," said a voice behind her. She turned to see Percy, carrying a large trunk that she only saw at that time of year. It was full of tinsel and stars a ceiling decorations and baubles. "Should we start with the tree?"

"No, we'll leave the tree and do it this evening with the others," she said. "Let's start by getting these paper chains up on the ceiling."

With only five days left until Christmas day, they were left in charge of decorating the beach house. The Christmas Tree had always been something pretty special for the two families, so they decided to wait until they finished to even start on the tree. In the meantime, Annabeth stood on the ugly metal step ladder as Percy passed her press-pins and paper chains.

"You're really cute when you're concentrating," he said, looking up at her as she tried to tediously hard task of pushing a press-pin into the ceiling. She could stab cyclops' in the feet when she was seven, dagger a bunch of monsters and help save the world, but stabbing a simple press-pin into the ceiling was near impossible. "You bite your lip."

Annabeth side, finally pinning the paper chains into the ceiling. "What have I told you about ever referring to me as 'cute'?"

"It's a compliment," he said.

"It's degrading," she corrected. "Cute is for kittens, or puppies, or Luke when he went through that phase of banging his head against things."

"Fine," Percy said. "You're hot."

"Objectifying."

He paused, rolling his eyes. Every time Annabeth smiled, a feminist was born. He bit his own lip, trying to come up with an adjective that perfectly described the love of his life, but alas, after knowing her for almost twenty years, she was still tongue-tying. "Phenomenal," he decided. "You're phenomenal."

She smiled before descending the little ladder, biting her lip until she was at eye-level with him. "You're perfect," she replied. Percy responded by pulling out a clump of mistletoe and holding it above their heads.

"Oh, look at that uncanny surprise," he said.

Annabeth rolled her eyes before slinging her arms over his shoulders and kissing him. Percy wrapped one arm around her waist, the other still holding onto the mistletoe.

 _ **Flashback – June 16th, 2017**_

 _The night before their wedding was terrible. They both stayed in the same hotel room but they weren't allowed to see each other for even a second. Percy was being guarded by Jason and Annabeth was being guarded by Reyna and the Roman power-couple were keeping them apart. Percy managed to convince Jason to drink himself unconscious and Annabeth did the same because the two of them sneaked out in the middle of the night to meet at the bar._

 _They didn't talk about the wedding the day after, or each others nerves, they talked about the little things. "You can't tell Jason," Annabeth laughed._

" _What, that Reyna got drunk and made out with a stripper?" Percy said, laughing at the stories from Annabeth's bachelorette party. "I didn't think she was the type, to be honest."_

" _We dared her!" Annabeth said. "You know that girl can't resist a dare."_

 _They sat in their pyjama's with messy hair on barstools as they laughed. And elderly woman, who's hand was linked with her husbands, smiled at them. "You two make a cute couple," she commented._

" _Thank you," Annabeth beamed back, getting a little giggly on the night before her wedding._

" _How long have you been together?" the woman asked._

 _Percy remembered the blue cupcake, the underwater kiss. "Seven years," he said, feeling like it was just the day before._

" _But you're so young!" she said._

" _High-school sweethearts," Annabeth said. "Turned into an epic love." Percy remembered when that phrase 'epic love' was first used on them, and silently thanked Reyna for giving them that title. "It's actually the night before our wedding."_

" _Well you shouldn't be seeing each other then," the woman's husband said. "It's bad luck!"_

 _Percy and Annabeth exchanged a look. "Well, I guess, after knowing each other for eleven years," he said, "we couldn't spend one night apart."_

" _Congratulations," the elderly couple said before walking off._

 _Annabeth turned to Percy. "Don't go second guessing yourself," she said. "I'll take it the wrong way."_

 _Percy smirked. "Wouldn't dream of it. I don't think I can fall asleep knowing what day it is tomorrow. It's finally happening."_

" _I expect to see you there," she said. "I'll be the one in white."_

 _The night somehow managed to pass, the couple managed to sneak back into their own rooms and magically found sleep. The next morning was... well... epic._

 _The DJ spoke, bringing the crowd to a quiet stand still. Everybody was dressed up in suits, long or short dresses, everybody with fancy hairstyles and champagne flutes in hand. Most were demigods, so the Gods had put several protection spells on the building to assure their safety from monsters. Even the Gods of Olympus were passionate about this event._

" _Now, I ask you," the DJ called to the massive crowd, "to join Mr and Mrs Jackson in their first dance as husband and wife."_

 _Percy lead Annabeth onto the dance floor, their friends and family cheering them. John Legend's_ All of Me _came on through the speakers and Percy wrapped his hands around his new wife and lead her into a slow dance, his favourite of the couple's dances._

 _Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his mother crying by the buffet and Paul's arm around her. He saw Jason getting ready to lead Reyna onto the dance floor. He saw Thalia, wearing a dress for the first time in her life – her maid of honour dress. He saw his oldest friend, Grover, wearing a best man suit, his collection of grooms-men, Tyson, Leo, Frank, Jason, Nico, all talking to Annabeth's bridesmaids, Reyna, Rachel, Piper, Hazel. He saw Annabeth's parents in the corner, Chiron, some of the Gods._

 _All powerful, all incredible people were at his wedding, supporting them, and he didn't care about any of them. In that moment, he only cared about his epic love, the blonde in his arms. A meteor could have hit the Earth and wiped them all out, but he wouldn't care. All he ever wanted was to spend his life with her, and that wish was coming true._

 _Jason and Reyna joined the dance floor shortly after. Soon followed by Sally and Paul, Grover and Juniper, Frank and Hazel until everybody was dancing with Percy and Annabeth._

 _Percy also danced with his mother, Reyna, Rachel, his mother, Thalia, Athena (surprisingly), his mother, and Hazel. He watched Annabeth dancing with her father, Poseidon, Jason, Reyna and a bunch of others._

 _Annabeth through the bouquet which fell into Calypso's arms. She married Leo a year later._

 _There was more drinking and dancing until Annabeth and Percy ran out to their limo, ready to go to the airport for their honeymoon. Their family threw rice on them and Rachel and Piper had tied tin cans onto the back of their limo and painted 'just hitched' onto the back window. Percy leaned across the back of the limo and kissed his bride. "I love you, Wise Girl."_

" _I love you too, Seaweed Brain."_

-0-0-0-0-0-

After a while, Percy and Annabeth found themselves sat in the corner of their apartment, adding on to one of the lines of paper chains, which wasn't long enough to reach the other end of the room. The worked as a pair like a well-oiled machine, like they had since they met. The perfect partners.

When they finished, Percy stood on the step-ladder and pinned the stupid paper circles to the ceiling. He got down again and the couple moved on to tinsel, circling the mirrors, wrapping around the barstools.

"A little longer on the left," Annabeth said, directing from afar as Percy wrapped tinsel around the kid's bed post. Percy did as instructed. "No, now a little more on the right. Yeah, perfect."

"Great," Percy said. "So should we start pinning..." he trailed off. They had one tiny radio in the kitchen work top, purely so the could listen to music. It often lost contact and broke off, but more often than not it worked and the DJ played a song that made Percy stop in his tracks.

 _What would I do without your smart mouth, drawing me in and kicking me out..._

His gaze met Annabeth's who had also stopped and was listening to the song. "This was the song we danced to at our wedding," he said. "Our first dance as husband and wife."

Percy paused before holding out his hand. Annabeth smirked at him before taking it. He pulled her into a dance in front of the fireplace. Similar to the one at their wedding except less meaningful and a little faster.

Percy spun her around and caught her in his arms as the chorus hit. Their foreheads touched and Percy was about to kiss her when they were interrupted by a high-pitched wailing next door. "I think someone's calling her mother!"

"Nice try, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said. "Go and comfort you daughter; I have more tinsel to put up." Percy rolled his eyes and turned away from Annabeth. He walked into their bedroom, where Emma was crying in her crib next to the double bed.

She was getting a little big for her crib now. Percy picked up his one year old daughter and held her to him, beginning to rock her. She was almost one but she cried like a newborn, only knew a small collection of words and still couldn't walk by herself.

He started thinking about how to get Luke's old, tiny car bed, into Emma's room back home, moving her out of the crib. "What's wrong, sweetheart?" Percy asked as Emma's crying began to die down.

"Hungy!" she cried. Her father new that to mean 'hungry' and took her to the kitchen.

"You need to tell Daddy what's wrong instead of crying," he said. "Okay?"

"Lucky brudda!" Emma demanded.

 _Lukey brother_ , Percy translated in his head. "He's outside playing." That pretty much summed up all the words Emma could almost say. She looked like her mother, down to the same shade of blonde hair that just reached her ears. It grew straight but Percy had no doubt in his mind that it would eventually start to curl.

She had Percy's green eyes which contrasted beautifully with her hair. She always seemed to have a smile, showing off tiny teeth that were beginning to come through. He spent a few minutes feeding her but stopped when she started throwing cereal at the walls. It didn't take him long to clean it up and he scooped her up in his arms.

He noticed Annabeth watching them, leaning against the door frame leading to their bedroom, as Percy put Emma down on her play mat. "Shame," Annabeth smirked. "You look kind of hot holding a baby."

Percy raised an eyebrow before bending down to pick Emma up again. "Looks like we're staying like this for a while," he said. "Hope you don't mind, Em."

* * *

 **A/N: Hi! Really not used to updating everyday. I'll get the hang of it. Anyway, I can not believe it's the 20th today. I'm so excited! Wishing you all happy holidays! Oh and thanks for all of your reviews! I love reading them and I'm glad you like it. Please write one before you go! -Izzy**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

 _"_ _I've got a feeling_  
 _This year's for me and you"_

 _-The Pogues (Fairytale of New York)_

Evening to night time was the best time for Christmas shopping, in Jason's opinion. Something about the dark sky, the piercing cold of the air, just made it all so much more... Christmas-y.

He had been out all day and his feet hurt from walking, his fingers were slowly turning blue and he couldn't even feel the tips. His nose was about ready to fall off and the cold had gotten through his coat and was chilling his bones. And for some strange reason, he loved it. Because it felt like Christmas.

New York did put on a show for Christmas but they stayed nearer to a smaller market, just on the outskirts of Long Island. There was a crossroads, where four different lanes came together, and lines of little wooden huts travelled up each lane, all selling something different. In the centre of the crossroads was a giant display above the best hot-dog place for miles.

The roof of each wooden hut was lined with fake holly, baubles and lights were weaved through the leaves and red and gold ribbons were decorating the whole thing. Small crowds of people stood in front of every stall, wrapped up in defence of the snow; looking at the brightly lit displays.

One stall sold different kinds of hats, baubles, beanies, all home-made by the owner of the stall. There was one scarf in the stall that Annabeth appeared to be particularly interested in, although Jason didn't see anything special in the black and white stripped thing until Annabeth held it out for him to feel. It was probably the softest, silkiest thing he had ever touched. That anyone had ever touched and that was not an exaggeration.

"What's this made of?" she asked the stall-owner.

"Bunny fur," she answered, smiling brightly at Jason and Annabeth. Annabeth wasn't a vegetarian but fur scarves were a little disrespectful. She was about to turn away from it when the lady in the hut stopped her. "Oh the bunnies are very free-range," she said. "I'm a vegetarian myself, so I make sure all of the bunnies are safe and happy. They aren't hurt in the making, the fur is literally brushed off."

"Really?" Annabeth asked. The woman nodded, showing Annabeth a piece of paper to confirm the free-range bunnies. Annabeth ended up buying the scarf.

There was another stall that Jason thought was particularly pretty. The display was mostly red, with different baskets and chopping boards on, beautifully hand-crafted wood, portrayed with a beautiful display of fruits, chocolates and wine.

He pulled Annabeth over to look at another stall which he loved. "Luke, look," he said, kneeling down next to Luke, to look through the glass at one of Jason's favourite displays.

"What's so special about rusty tools?" Luke asked. The display, in fact, did look like a collection of rusty, old tools, sat in sawdust strips, wrenches, hammers, screwdrivers, nuts and volts.

"Those aren't actually tools," Jason said. "That's chocolate! Made to look like tools!"

Luke paused before turning excitedly to look at his mother. "Mommy, I want one!" he said. He paused, rethinking what he said. "Mommy, please can I have one?" he rephrased.

Annabeth paused, looking at the prices. "I'm almost out of money, Lukey."

"I'll get him one," Jason promised. "Which one do you want, Lukey?" He helped Luke pick out a particularly appetizing hammer and paid for it out of his own pocket. The stall owner handed Luke his hammer, which was about actual size, so Luke used both hands to hold it.

"I'm going to pretend my tongue is an nail!" he declared, trying to shove the chocolate in his mouth.

"You better not eat that all at once," Jason said. "You'll get sick. It should last you at least five minutes." Luke just giggled.

Annabeth and Jason had taken Luke out Christmas shopping. Reyna and Percy were going to come along but Reyna made some excuse about feeling ill and Percy stayed with her to make sure she was okay. Much to her distaste, that was. Jason would have stayed with her, or Annabeth, but those two were the ones that genuinely needed to get presents for people. They were both running very late, so it was best that Percy stayed home with Reyna.

They had been out since noon and it was nearing 8pm and both of them were having too much fun to go back. It was one of their favourite things, Christmas shopping. Luke had the same love for Christmas shopping, so he insisted on coming along with them. Lydia had wanted to stay home with her mother.

"Is their anything else we need?" Annabeth asked, her hand reaching towards her son as a crowd walked past. Luke reached up and held onto his mother as he looked at where they were heading. There seemed to be some sought of display with some college kids with glowing green and red umbrellas.

"I need something for Reyna," Jason said. He had been asking Annabeth for Reyna advice since he was eighteen. Why ever stop?

"What about some jewellery?" Annabeth suggested.

Jason just raised an eyebrow. "Cliché."

"Some perfume?" Annabeth said.

"Critical of her usual scent," Jason said.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "What about some nice wine or something?"

Jason just paused. "No, I don't think she likes wine at the moment."

Was buying Reyna a present going to be impossible that year? "Athena give me strength," Annabeth whispered, looking up at the sky.

 _ **Flashback – May 11th, 2014**_

 _Jason and Annabeth had one mutual course – Advanced Mathematics. They sat in the back of the hall every time without fail and tried to keep up with what the professor was saying. Usually with college courses, you could take one focusing on a specific detail but their class pretty much covered every topic under the sun to do with numbers._

 _Jason and Annabeth walked out of their Advanced Mathematics lecture hall. They both had the rest of the day off, so they were beginning to discuss what they should do. Whether to go to the library and study or the gym and work out or what. The campus had so many options, and during their second year at college, they were beginning to get used to it._

" _We could get some lunch actually," Jason said. "Start this Trigonometry thing."_

" _I think they're showing some kids in the Legion around the campus today," Annabeth said. "They'd be in the cafeteria at the moment so any attempt at studying would be a nightmare."_

 _Jason nodded in agreement as they started walking up the Cantocks Steps. They were some steps outside that lead to a certain wing of lecture halls, mostly used for Math. They were pretty famous in New Rome as they seemed to annoy everyone. Something about their width or their height seemed to confuse everyone to the point of not knowing if their was one step or two. There was actually this debate where everyone discussed numbers between 20-30 and nobody was actually sure how many there were. Well, they also pissed people off because you looked downright weird trying to walk up them._

 _They ended up going back to Jason's dorm room and chilling out, taking a break from studying or working or one of the hard tasks that often deprived them of sleep. Instead, Annabeth lounged across Jason's miniature couch and Jason lay on his bed, and they both threw a tennis ball back and forth, aimlessly._

" _Do you ever wonder what you're going to look like when your old?" Annabeth asked, catching the ball Jason threw at her._

" _What?" he asked as she threw it back._

" _Or what picture they're going to show at your funeral?" Annabeth added, staring at the ceiling aimlessly. Jason gave her an odd look, but paused himself._

" _What like, my actual funeral?" he asked. "Do you think the picture at my funeral has already been taken? Wait, are you going to kill me?"_

 _Annabeth shrugged. "Not today, but you never know. How do you think you're going to die?"_

" _I want it to be interesting," he said. "Maybe like a shark attack. I know it's like, impossible. But a dream is a dream, you know? What about you?"_

" _Monster attack," she said without hesitating._

 _Most demigods died of monster attacks, it was their most common form of death. "Boring," Jason said. "Why?"_

 _Annabeth sniggered. "Isn't it crazy how mortals who dream of an interesting death add monster attack to the list, but we pass it off as boring? And because I'm statistically most likely to die from an empousa or Echidna or something. I think I'll be able to score a few decades of life, though."_

" _What do you want out of it?" he asked. "I want a good job, I want to be successful and make a change and above all, I want to be a good person. But sometimes I do like, want the parent life."_

 _Annabeth nodded. "I agree. Women these days are trained not to say it, but I wouldn't be against marriage some day. Maybe a couple of rug-rats."_

" _What would you call them?" Jason asked._

" _That's a harder choice than everyone thinks," Annabeth said. "Because whatever you choose with affect somebody's entire life. This baby will grow into a person with the name you chose."_

" _Names change your whole life," Jason said, nodding._

 _Annabeth agreed. "Yeah, like, imagine if I was called, Chantel or something."_

" _It wouldn't be the same," Jason said._

 _Annabeth sighed. "I want a boy called Luke," she said. "Always have."_

" _Common," he said. "Why?"_

 _Annabeth paused for a long time. "I had a friend called Luke, once. I'm sure Percy will be okay with that name."_

" _You sure you're marrying Percy?" Jason asked._

 _Annabeth shrugged. "We're only in college, we're only 21, so anything can happen. But I think once you fall into Hell and make it out the other end, there's nothing everyday life can throw at you that you can't survive. So it's likely."_

" _Deep."_

" _This whole conversation is freaking deep," she said. "I've never thought more about my life!"_

" _You started it," Jason said._

-0-0-0-0-0-

"These make me," Jason said, pointing down to the hot dog in his hand, "very happy." They had found a stand that sold German hot-dogs, about a foot long in a fairly little bun. They were masterpieces with ketchup.

"I can't believe you ruined yours with mustard," Annabeth said, shaking her head in disgust at Jason.

He returned the look she gave him. "I can't believe you defiled yours with onions." Annabeth raised her eyebrows as if Jason just challenged her.

"I used to crave onions," she said. "When I was pregnant, you know? I ate so much I wouldn't be surprised if Luke was 50% onion."

"I remember," Jason smirked. When Annabeth fell pregnant for the first time, she lived just across the hall from Jason in a block of apartments, so he often hung out with her, which often meant getting sent out to find more onions.

"I think Reyna's been liking onions lately," Annabeth said.

Jason narrowed his eyes before getting Annabeth's hint. He didn't want to confirm it or deny it, so he just asked: "What are you hinting at?"

Annabeth cocked her head. "Jason Grace, don't talk to me with you serious Jupiter voice."

He paused, his face becoming less serious. "My – my what? My serious Jupiter voice?"

"Mm-hm," she said, nodding with a smile on her face. "It's a little different than your _fun_ Jupiter voice. Neither of which stray too far from your _Hey, it's Tuesday!_ voice."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Like you're any better..." he trailed off, watching Luke who seemed to be trying to eat his chocolate hammer and his hot dog at the same time.

"Luke!" Annabeth scolded. "You'll be sick. Here, give me that!" She held her hand out for Luke's hammer, but he wouldn't hand it over, so Annabeth knelt down in front of him. "Luke," she said. "You can have it when you get home."

"I don't want to go home," he whispered, as if it was a secret. "I wanna eat my hammer!"

Annabeth sighed. "You need to eat your hot dog first."

"My hammer will get jealous!" Luke told her.

Now Annabeth whispered, as if she was sharing a secret with Luke. "You know how I always make you eat your Brussels sprouts before your ice cream? You know when you finally get that ice cream and it tastes all the better because you waited?"

Luke nodded. "Will it be like that with my hammer?" Annabeth just nodded until he handed the chocolate over and focused on his hot dog.

"You're good at that, you know?" Jason said, as Annabeth linked her arm through Jason's. "You're so good at being a parent." Luke came up to her and held her hand and they started walking back to the car.

"And you're not?" she asked. "Jason, I've seen you with Lydia. And with Emma and Luke, and they're not even your kids."

"Yeah but it's hard," Jason said. "I have no idea what I'm doing. Half the time I'm copying Reyna, or parents I see on TV."

"Such a cute family," someone commented, walking past Jason and Annabeth, who rolled their eyes.

"Thank you," Annabeth called, being too lazy to correct them. Honestly her and Jason could pass for siblings if they tried.

"Where did we park the car, _wifey_?" Jason joked, playing along.

Annabeth rolled her eyes as her favourite Christmas song came on through the loud speakers that lit the streets up with sound. "You were handsome," she sung along, as if to explain their 'marriage'.

"You were pretty," he sung back. "Queen of New York city."

Annabeth laughed a little. "Still am, if I do say so myself. And we parked just around the corner."

* * *

 **A/N: ohmygodsohmygods only four days to go! I still have so much shopping to do and writing to catch up on! Anyway, Jasabeth! Yay. Next Chapter's Jeyna I believe. Anyway, Happy Holidays, I love you all. Please review! -Izzy**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

 _"I just want you for my own_  
 _More than you could ever know"_

 _-Mariah Carey (All I Want for Christmas)_

"I can do that."

Jason had woken up only a little late, but Reyna had started her second load of washing up, stood at the sink with her hands in the water, so naturally, he immediately offered to take over. She looked over her shoulder and smirked at him. "So can I."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm trying to get you off your feet," he said. "Like a good husband. You're sister would approve."

"My sister is somewhat a feminazi," Reyna said. "This needed to be done, so I did it. Simple as that. Now I'm going to be on my feet anyway, so I might as well get this done."

Jason sighed. He walked over to the tree and turned the lights on. The ceiling was decorated with paper chains, and tinsel hung across furniture. Thanks to Percy and Annabeth. Jason looked around before asking Reyna where they were.

"They went out with Luke and Emma," Reyna said. "They offered to take Lydia, but she said she would rather stay home."

Jason looked out of the window to his daughter, who was rolling a snowball around on the ground. He wrapped up warm and went outside to ask her what she was doing. "Lydia, sweetie," he said, crouching down next to her. "What have we got over here?"

"I started a snowman!" she exclaimed proudly, pointing to her snowball. "I'm going to roll it a lot to make a tummy!"

"You want to build a snowman?" Jason said. "Well why aren't you waiting for Luke to come home and help you?"

"Because I don't need help," she said, laughing as if the idea was hilarious. "Silly Daddy! I'm going to make a big tummy for the snowman and then Lukey is going to make a little head and then we stick them together!"

"Oh right," Jason said, nodding. "Here, why don't we make it a little bigger before we start trying to roll it."

He held her pat more snow down onto the tiny ball she had made so she was actually able to roll it. He helped her out until she could do it all by herself. "Daddy, keep helping me," she ordered. "I can't do it alone."

He smiled lightly, as the ball of snow began to grow as she rolled it over the beach, working all by herself. "Yes you can," he muttered, more to himself than to his daughter. He kissed her forehead once as she grew confidence in herself before going back inside to Reyna, who was watching them from the window.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked her, when she didn't turn to face him when he entered. She kept looking out at Lydia, a sad smile on her face.

"Simon," she answered, sadly.

Jason understood immediately and felt bad himself. Two years before hand, Reyna had fallen pregnant for the second time. Unfortunately, she had miscarried the child, a boy who they had planned on naming Simon. They didn't get the chance to. Jason remembered that one night, when he came home from visiting Nico. Reyna was sat on the couch, all alone, looking as though she was about to burst into tears.

She had complained about the word 'miscarry', as if she had carried the baby wrong. Whilst she was talking she burst into tears and Jason understood what had happened.

"Lydia would have loved a sibling," she muttered. "She still would."

"She will," Jason corrected, slipping his arms around Reyna's waist as she moved away from the sink. "What do you want to do? We have the whole day. We can play with Lydia, start a fire, sit and do nothing..."

Reyna sighed a little, the thought was appealing. Instead, however, she bought out a few sheets of paper from the draw and pulled away from Jason, shoving them into his hands. "I wish we could, but did you really believe Annabeth would leave us with nothing productive to do?"

Jason muttered something that sounded like 'control freak' as he took a look at the papers. "What even is this?"

"Christmas bakes," Reyna said. "We're on cookie patrol."

 _ **Flashback – May 18th, 2018**_

 _Reyna smirked vaguely as she walked through the door to her apartment in San Francisco. She still lived there even after graduation, a little outside of New Rome. They didn't have many opportunities for aspiring journalists in the tiny city she used to run._

 _She remembered when she first started college, when she had no idea what she wanted to do. Eventually she landed on journalism. Getting her voice out there, ranting at people publicly about modern day sexism, homophobia anything about equalising. She took a few writing courses but found her dyslexia was slowing her down, so she turned to Television Journalism._

" _Good evening," she said, as she saw Jason in her living room, trying to tidy up the couch. "Guess what?"_

" _What?" he asked as she dumped her bag down and smirked at him. She wore a fitted white blazer, tight jeans and high shoes, her curly hair up for work._

" _Next month I might be moving over to the morning show," she grinned. "Adam told me today, he wants me over on Breakfast!"_

 _Jason paused. "And that's a good thing?"_

 _She rolled her eyes. "It has 23% more viewers and a 10% raise," she said. "Plus, I get to talk about subjects covering feminism a lot more! Yes, Jason, it's the promotion I've been working for for months!"_

" _I thought that was for the evening show?" Jason asked._

" _No, the morning one," she said._

" _You said evening."_

" _I meant morning!" she exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "Why are you tidying so much, anyway?" she asked, as he moved to clear off the coffee table of all the papers she had scattered on there._

" _It's our anniversary," he said. "I thought we could sit in a place that doesn't look like a tip."_

" _I thought all of the knick knacks made the carpet look nice," she joked, making him laugh. "And before you doubt me, I didn't forget. You're present is in my shirt draw, okay?"_

 _He smirked, pulling her up off the couch and kissing her. "Congratulations on your promotion," he said,wrapping his arms around her. "You deserve it."_

" _I know I do," she said,her hands touching his neck as she smiled at him. "But it's not set in stone. Katie Knight is also in the running. Ugh."_

" _Knight is terrible at what she does," Jason said, knowing about Reyna's most disliked colleague. "You've worked so hard and everybody loves you. How much fan mail do you get every week? And just yesterday you made some poor sod cry."_

" _He was being a misogynistic douche," she replied, pulling away from him and kissing his cheek. "Now, to fix what you've done, the pillows on the couch are all in the wrong order, you have the zips showing on the covers, my books are organized alphabetically and if you tried to vacuum, you failed miserably."_

" _Okay then neat-freak," Jason sighed, walking over to the bookshelf he tried to tidy. "Feel free to help out at any moment."_

 _She laughed and reached inside her bag. "No, by all means, I'm going to let you finish all by yourself. You're a grown man, who needs to learn how to tidy. But when you screw up:" she pulled out the glass bottle from her bag and smiled at him. "Wine."_

 _He smirked. "Necessary," he agreed, fixing the cushions on the couch. She leaned forward to let him do so before standing up and kicking her shoes off._

" _I thick this needs a corkscrew," she said, after failing to pull the cork out by herself. She put the bottle on the coffee table and walked over to the kitchen to pull a draw open in search._

 _Jason didn't pay much attention to the action at first and she moved on from the draw after a second, after seeing no corkscrew. His head snapped up when he realised she would be opening another, very specific draw in just a second._

" _No, no," he called out, urgently. "Not that one!" But Reyna had already opened a kitchen draw; one that they never used for anything. One that was usually so completely abandoned that Jason had felt more than safe using as his hiding spot._

 _And what had he hidden in that draw? Reyna pulled out the tiny black box and gasped. Her eyes widened, her breathed became a little ragged and she stopped moving completely, just staring at the little black box._

" _It was meant to be a surprise," Jason muttered._

" _It is," she said. She whipped around to him, pulling on her usual face of confident steel. "Yes," she said, somewhat professionally._

" _You didn't even open it," he said, his eyes narrowing._

" _I didn't even have to," she replied. "There just better not be a keyring in here or something."_

 _He shook his head. "No, it is... what you think it is."_

 _There was a pause as they looked at each other before Reyna ran up to him and kissed him, her hands on his face, pulling him towards her and refusing to let him pull away._

-0-0-0-0-0-

"Our mixer is broken," Jason complained, holding up the two metal whisks that were used for stirring. "I bought this last week and I haven't used it once! Thanks _Walmart_!"

Reyna sniggered. "Could you get the caster sugar?" Jason looked around until Reyna pointed into the living room, where there was a sack of caster sugar about the same size as Lydia. "Percy got it. Don't ask me why."

Jason walked over and hoisted the bag over his shoulder as Reyna pinned her hair back. "Man power!" he exclaimed, jokingly, as he carried the bag back to Reyna.

"That's terrifying," she lied. "Okay, have we got everything we need?" She went through a list of ingredients that added up to Christmas cookies. "Where's the egg?"

"One chicken fetus right here," he said, placing it down in front of her.

The mixed the first few ingredients into breadcrumbs. Their mixer was broken so Reyna had to try with a wooden spoon. Jason contributed with a fork, that wasn't very helpful, but teamwork was teamwork.

"It smells delicious already," Jason said.

"No, that's just me," Reyna answered.

"Hey, this is just butter and sugar right?" Jason said. Before Reyna could correct him, he continued. "So it should be delicious!" He scooped up a chunk of the mixture and ate it before coughing and spluttering. Reyna turned him to the sink. "I forgot we added the flour," he coughed.

"Yeah," she just said. "You're kind of an idiot. Out of you and Percy, it confuses me why people think you're the smart one."

"Hey!" he complained. He finished stirring as Reyna moved about behind him. He turned to see he chucking the egg about recklessly. "You're going to drop it!" he said. "Reyna!"

"I got this," she said. "Trust me." He tried to speak but she just interrupted him with "Shhhh, trust me." That was before she almost dropped the egg on the floor, practically giving Jason a heart attack. Luckily she caught it, literally by her fingertips.

"No eggshell!" Jason exclaimed happily as Reyna successfully cracked the egg over the breadcrumbs. Just after he said that, her hands slipped and the shell fell in. "Of course you would," he said, rolling his eyes as he picked shell out, like a game of Operation.

"Hey!" she complained as Jason sighed. Reyna hit his bum with a wooden spoon. They finished off the mixture and Reyna looked down at her grey skinny jeans, sighing to herself. "Not advisable to play with flour in one's favourite jeans," she said, looking down at all the flour stains.

"How many Christmases out of ten?" he asked Reyna, judging their completed cookie mixture.

"Eight," she said, confidently. She grabbed a spoon and tried to take some but Jason just pulled out a biscuit tray. "Stop acting the chef, Jason. We both know you can't cook."

"You're barely helping," he said. "I didn't ask for this much responsibility. I can hardly cook myself food when I'm hungry."

"Yeah, remember the first time you tried to cook for the two of us?" she laughed. "I mean, I know you said you couldn't cook but I didn't expect you to burn half my house down!"

"The pressure was real," he defended. "Are you going to give Lydia the bowl to scoop out?"

Reyna nodded, wrapping up in her coat and taking the bowl with leftover cookie mixture and a spoon out to see Lydia. "Hey sweetie," she said. Lydia ran over and Reyna handed her the mixture, sitting down with her. "I love how your snowman's coming along."

Lydia had managed to roll a ball of snow to about the same size as a globe. "Thank you, Mommy!" she smiled, widely. She picked up a leaf next to her and admired it. "It there more leaves in the world or grass?" she asked.

Reyna rolled her eyes. Statistically, 4-year-old girls asked more questions than any other child. About one every two minutes and it was exhausting. "Er, blades of grass."

"What about trees?" she asked. "Are there more trees or buildings."

"Trees," Reyna guessed.

"Are there more bird feathers or bricks?" she asked.

Reyna paused. "Hey, honey, can I ask _you_ a question?" Reyna asked.

"You just did," Lydia whispered, as if it was a secret.

"Can I ask you another question?"

"You just did!" Lydia exclaimed this time, bursting out laughing. "We can take it in turns. I ask you a question, then you ask me a question, then I ask you a question, then you ask me a question then-"

"Okay, let's start," Reyna said. "Do you like baby Emma?"

Lydia shrugged. "Yes. But she's small and doesn't speak a lot and I like Luke better. When are you going to die?"

"Hopefully not for a long time," Reyna said. "What if we got our own baby and they would grow into someone more like Luke?"

"That would be okay but I would have to wait to play with them," Lydia said. "When you die can I get a new Mommy?"

"What?" Reyna asked.

"Because I need you," Lydia explained. "So if you die I'd need a new one."

"I'm not going to die any time soon," Reyna said. "Would you like a baby in our family, if they grew?"

Lydia nodded. "I like you and Daddy but grown-ups are boring so I would like a Luke at home. When can I breathe under water?"

"Unfortunately never," Reyna said. "I'm out of questions."

"I'm not!" Lydia laughed.

"You never are."

* * *

 **A/N: I've been hinting at something to do with Reyna since the Intro, and I was wondering if you guys got it. I mean, it's got to be obvious by now. I was going to publish this chapter earlier in the day but I just got home from hours of shopping in the pouring rain (thanks England!) so I was kinda busy. Also I recently planned a billion story lines, mostly with Jeyna, so I'm in a bit of a Jeyna over-load situation. Jercy next! Merry Christmas my lovelies! Please review! -Izzy**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

 _"Look to the future now_  
 _It's only just begun"_

 _-Slade (Merry Christmas)_

It was Christmas Eve eve, which was the official term for December 23rd. Reyna and Annabeth were out in the snow, helping Luke with some snow-ball fighting tips. Jason was inside, sat on his bed with Percy next to him. Jason and Reyna had pushed two single beds against each other to make a double bed, as Percy and Annabeth had immediately snatched the only double bed in the house. They were surrounded by presents, most for the wives, some for Luke, and had pieces of wrapping paper, cello tape and scissors surrounding them. Lydia was sat on the floor, facing Emma who was playing with some building bricks as Jason and Percy epically failed at wrapping presents – a task neither of them had ever been very good at.

"What did you get me?" Percy asked Jason innocently.

"I got you a bag of crap," Jason replied.

"Remember to include the receipt," Percy said, somewhat seriously.

"No I'm not going to include the receipt," Jason said, matter-of-factly. "You'll just return it and I bought it for you with all of my love."

"Bro," was Percy's response. Nothing else.

"What did you get me?" Jason asked.

Percy sniggered. "I'm not going to tell you. You lied to me about my present, so you don't deserve to know yours."

"I didn't lie to you," Jason smirked.

"If you actually got me a bag of crap for Christmas I will burn this house to the ground," Percy said, pointing a finger at Jason, who laughed. "You're surprisingly easy to shop for, by the way."

"I'll take that as an insult," he said. "Jerk."

"Bitch," Percy laughed. "Lydia, don't repeat that word," he called over to the four-year-old.

"But by all means, continue to call Uncle Percy a jerk," Jason added on.

Lydia laughed a little and came to sit on the bed with them, fiddling with a piece of wrapping paper. Percy got the roll of cello tape and started sticking bits to his face. Holding down his nose so it looked flat, sticking his eyebrows to his forehead.. Lydia started out giggling but when Percy stuck the see-through tape over his mouth and blew into it, she burst into hysterics.

"Percy, you'll hurt yourself getting that off," Jason said.

"Don't buzz kill, Jason," Percy said, his voice sounding muffled through all of the cello tape.

"I'm just trying to stop you from making a stupid mistake before it happens," he defended himself.

"I do stupid things when I'm hungry," Percy shrugged.

"Don't buzz kill, Jason," Lydia burst out with. Percy found himself rolling over laughing at the look on Jason's face.

"Don't call me Jason," Jason ordered.

"I think we know each other well enough to be on first-name terms," Lydia said, innocently. That had Percy wiping tears from his face as he struggled for breath. Jason just hit his arm.

"Fine, call me Jason, I don't care," he said. "We can be one of those lame hipster families."

"I'm sorry, Daddy," Lydia said, hugging him. "Uncle Percy, can you do that to my face?"

Percy nodded and lead Lydia over to a mirror, getting the cello tape ready. "Percy, you'll hurt her!" Jason protested, getting up out of the fort of wrapping equipment and frown as Percy stuck a piece of tape over Lydia's nose, holding it up like a pig.

"Whoa, sorry there, Papa Bear," Percy laughed. "Don't worry, okay? I totally got this. I'm good with kids, I won't hurt her."

"I won't trust you with my kids again," Jason said. Lydia just laughed as Percy stuck her eyebrows together.

"It's not like anyone actually trusted me in the first place," Percy said, kneeling down next to Lydia and putting his arm around her. "Just trust me. Shh, trust me."

Jason sighed. "If Reyna asks, it was against my wishes. I had no say in it."

 _ **Flashback – July 1st, 2015**_

 _There was this little section of New Rome that was around purely for entertainment purposes. A little round-about like street with buildings circling the area. These included a cinema, a McDonald's that was in competition with the KFC next door. There was a bingo place that nobody actually went to, a path leading to a huge Adventure Playground, a fancy date restaurant, a Bed & Breakfast. Jason and Percy had been in the movie theatre for Jason's Birthday. When they left the building, the sky was a dark navy and the stars were out._

 _They were both starving and all restaurants were closed apart from McDonald's drive-through. "Warning: I'm going to jump on your back and ride you through the drive-through. And not in the sexy way I know you're thinking about."_

" _Don't do that," Jason said. "We won't get any food."_

" _We might," Percy said, climbing up Jason's back and sitting on his shoulders._

" _I tried to be a good friend and stop you," Jason sighed. "But clearly I was way in over my head. But check out this pro lifting!"_

 _That's how Jason found himself walking through a drive-through with Percy on his shoulders in the middle of the night. "This is stupid," he said._

" _Don't all best friends do this for each other?" Percy sniggered. He knocked on the glass leading to the kitchen. New Rome had only made room for cars within the last year. Hardly anybody had one and they were pretty rare. Some, Terminus didn't even allow in the city. But chances are, if you looked to a road in New Rome, you would see horses mixed with bikes and cars. They didn't leave New Rome though, so Camp Jupiter wasn't touched with an engine. Hazel had passed the law a few months before hand on the grounds that 'New Rome should evolve with the times.'_

 _A very angry employee came to the window and opened it. "Hey!" he growled._

" _Hey," Percy replied. "I know this is a drive-through and I don't have a car, but I'm on my brother. So can I get a box of 20 nuggets and-"_

" _Get out," the employee shouted. "Go on, leave!"_

" _Are you sure, sir?" Percy asked. "I just really want a milkshake."_

" _Get out!" the employee shouted. Jason slowly walked away, carrying Percy, who gave an evil glare to the worker._

 _They came out laughing and started to head back to campus. "Did you really call me your brother?" Percy looked at him and nodded, as if it wasn't a big deal._

 _Some guys were by the entrance of the junction, the way Percy and Jason were trying to walk. They were all college kids, like them, all surrounded by smoke with cigarettes in their hands. They had an iPod on shuffle, plugged into some speakers, on a wall next to them and they were doing some smooth dance. There was a strange smell in the air and it only took Percy a second to recognise it._

" _Dude, they're high," he whispered, nudging Jason._

" _So?" he asked. "Everybody gets high nowadays."_

 _People have been sneaking illegal substances into New Rome for decades. Terminus was hard on those who managed to get something through, but people have been finding loopholes in his system for even longer – centuries. It was very rare to see a group of people, openly high in the streets. Percy wondered why Terminus hadn't been informed. But yet, there they were._

" _If they think we're going to tell Terminus, they'll attack us," Percy said. "We should go the other way."_

" _Nah, just blend in," Jason replied. He walked, fairly casually, past the stoned guys before throwing his arms up with them and joining in the dance. It was calm, pretty much just waving your limbs about. Percy raised an eyebrow at Jason before joining in as well._

 _The group cheered them as they walked through, and they both coughed through the smoke as they came out the other side. "Percy, do you really see me as a brother?" Jason asked, his laugh turning to a more serious note._

 _Percy just looked at Jason as though he was being particularly weird. "Yeah?" he said, as though it was obvious._

" _Do you like... say that to all of your friends or...?" Jason asked._

" _No, not all of them," Percy said, thinking about it a little. "But you're my best friend. You were there for me when nobody else was. We're family, Jason."_

 _Jason paused this time. He nodded slightly before smiling. "I think you're family too," he said._

 _Percy nodded, completely poker face. "'kay."_

 _Jason narrowed his eyes and leaned forward threateningly. "Don't 'kay' me, I'm having a moment."_

 _Percy's facial expression didn't change in the slightest. "'kay," he said._

-0-0-0-0-0-

Wrapping presents with Percy Jackson was hard. He turned everything into a game, usually a competition. He could procrastinate for America, he often found himself off-track and distracted. And if Jason could pass one law, it would be to ban Percy from using marker pens. One letter written on a card, one picture drawn on Jason's face. Jason didn't really care. It was mostly Christmas pictures: Santa, snowballs, candy canes. Jason always pretended to be mad about it at first, usually to entertain Percy.

"I couldn't have ever imagined a greater tragedy," he would say with a complete poker face.

After a while he fought back, tackling Percy and wrestling him over the bed with his own marker pen in his hand. That's when war started. Lydia ran around with her own pen, occasionally helping either side. At one point, Jason pinned Percy down and held a marker over his face. "Surrender!"

"All you ever do is demand things," Percy said. He grabbed a piece of wrapping paper and shoved it in Jason's face, covering his eyes. "Didn't anyone ever teach you manners?"

They continued to wrestle and stick things to each other for a while until Reyna called in for them to cut it out. Out of fear of Reyna, they both got back to work. It took half an hour, but Percy finally got one present wrapped. A little gift for Luke, some sought of toy car. He was very proud of it, even though it was terribly done.

"Congratulations," Jason said, acting like a proud parent on graduation day. "You finally accomplished one mediocre task after all day of trying."

Percy took it as a compliment as seemed very pleased. "I can accomplish whatever I put my mind to," he said, beaming as he held up the present.

"You just spent the last hour trying to beat me in a pen war," Jason said. "I don't think your mind was very focused on this."

"Procrastination is my strong point," Percy agreed. "Distraction is what I have mastered. It's actually doing things that I have troubles with."

Jason was about to say something when he was interrupted by a loud wailing. Emma had gone too long without any attention and she was wailing her lungs out. Percy just sighed.

"Nobody takes you seriously," he said to her, looking tired. "You're like a baby turtle. Cute but completely harmless."

"Why add the 'turtle' bit?" Jason asked. "You basically just described every baby on the planet." Percy shrugged and got off the bed to walk over to Emma, but Jason jumped up before him. "I'll do it!"

Percy just stared at him, confused, as Jason jumped over to the baby. Jason didn't make eye-contact as he checked Emma over and summarised she just needed to be rocked.

"Why?" Percy said. "I mean, I love the thing, but she's a loud, annoying, smelly little brat. In the nicest way. Most people just let the parents deal with it."

Jason shrugged, letting Emma play with his t-shirt as he cradled her. "I don't know. I haven't held a baby for so long. Kind of forget what it's like. And being a good baby person is kind of a skill you don't want to forget."

Percy watched for a while. Jason was good with babies, he had to admit that. Emma stopped crying within the first few seconds. He was always a good Dad or Uncle, or whatever he was to children. And that wasn't a skill you could particularly outgrow. Jason's desire to comfort Emma kind of reminded him of something.

When Reyna first fell pregnant, Jason got extremely panicky. He bought a billion baby books and read them all within the first week. He wanted to baby proof everything in the apartment within the first night, but only had bubble wrap at his hand. Reyna had flipped out when she came home to a completely bubble-wrapped apartment.

Jason was way too cautious when it came to children. He was perfect with them, yet he practised anyway, only when he needed to.

"Jason," Percy mused. "Are you and Reyna expecting?"

Jason didn't turn around to face Percy; he kept eye-contact with Emma. He thought about Reyna's plan to tell them on Christmas Day and wondered what he was supposed to say when asked before hand.

Was he supposed to say no, and then contradict himself on the 25th? What would be the point in that?

Was he supposed to go against Reyna and say yes? Would she be mad? When she was mad, she was violent.

And saying maybe would be as obvious as saying yes.

After a minutes of thought he just nodded, slowly.

* * *

 **A/N: Flashback based on a genuine night out I went on last week. It was hilarious. Anywho, Merry Christmas Eve Eve, I love you all! -Izzy**


End file.
